How Virginia Woolf inspired Far Cry 3

What was the reasoning behind making one of Far Cry 3's most interesting characters leave the narrative so early? Spoiler alert.

Spoiler alert. You'd think Vaas is the main character of Far Cry 3, given his prominence on the game's box, and his frequent appearances in the game's trailers. The villain commands such a captivating presence, that his early exit in the game struck many as odd--even disappointing. What was the reasoning behind making such a compelling character leave the narrative so early? Lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem explained that Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse inspired that decision.

In Woolf's novel, "the main character dies in the middle, kind of parenthetically," Yohalem told IGN. "The whole book is going and you get to these parentheses in this middle portion, and she's dead... the rest of the book is about the absence of her. That is so daring. And we did it."

Yohalem admits that the decision to remove Vaas so early on would rub players the wrong way, but "you also want that kind of character to take a bow when everyone wants him the most." Leaving players "in a space where there's no immediate goal" was something that rarely happens in a game, he pointed out.

Producer Dan Hay said that "giving that taste of Vaas and making sure that it's short and that it's sweet and that it is about craving more of it... that was a focus for us." He added that he would expand the stories of Willis, Buck, Hoyt, and Daisy, never suggesting more of Vaas.